Nvidia invests $2B in AI cloud startup Nebius as AI data center race intensifies

The AI infrastructure race just got another jolt. Nvidia said Wednesday it will invest $2 billion in AI cloud company Nebius, taking a stake of about 8.3% as the chip giant deepens its push into the companies building the backbone of the AI economy.

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows Nvidia agreed to buy shares at $94.94 each. News of the investment sent Nebius shares higher, rising 13.8% to $109.72 during trading, Reuters reported. The Amsterdam-based firm trades on Nasdaq.

The deal adds Nebius to a growing list of AI infrastructure bets tied to Nvidia’s strategy. The chipmaker sits at the center of the AI boom and has poured capital into partners across the ecosystem, especially companies building data centers and GPU-heavy cloud platforms.

That strategy has raised questions in some corners of the industry. Nvidia sells the chips powering the AI boom, and several companies receiving its backing happen to be major customers buying those same chips.

Nebius sits squarely in that category. The company is building a large-scale AI cloud infrastructure for companies that develop and run AI models. Nvidia hardware forms a central piece of that effort.

Nvidia invests $2B in Nebius to scale AI cloud built for the agentic era

The two companies say Nebius plans to deploy more than five gigawatts of data center capacity by 2030, enough electricity to match the consumption of over four million U.S. homes. The figure signals the scale of infrastructure being built to feed global demand for AI computing.

Nebius has been ramping up quickly. The company reported $2.1 billion in capital spending during the December quarter, up from $416 million a year earlier, as it accelerates data center construction and GPU cluster deployment.

The investment lands less than a year after Nebius raised $700 million from investors, including Nvidia and Accel. In April 2025, Nebius and Nvidia teamed up on a program aimed at early-stage AI startups, offering $150,000 in cloud credits and early access to Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture.

The broader AI infrastructure race continues to intensify. Nvidia last year committed to deploying at least 10 gigawatts of systems for OpenAI, followed by a $30 billion investment tied to the company.

Nebius belongs to a group of AI-focused cloud providers sometimes referred to as “neoclouds.” Companies such as CoreWeave specialize in GPU-heavy computing capacity aimed at AI developers rather than general enterprise workloads.

That focus has helped them land large contracts with tech giants. Nebius has secured infrastructure deals tied to hyperscalers, including agreements with Microsoft and Meta Platforms, valued at billions of dollars.

“Nebius is building an AI cloud designed for the agentic era,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement. He added that the partnership will help scale Nebius to meet rising global demand for AI computing.

Nebius traces its roots to Yandex. The company was founded by former Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh, who spun off parts of the business as he rebuilt it into a global technology company focused on AI infrastructure.

Volozh said the fresh capital will accelerate the rollout of GPU clusters, cloud platforms, and developer tools for companies building the next generation of AI systems.

For Nvidia, the message remains clear. Chips alone do not define the AI race. Data centers, cloud platforms, and the companies operating them now sit at the heart of the battle for AI computing capacity.

Nebius